Question marks remain over the fitness of Zaheer, Ishant

Although question marks remain over the fitness of front-line pacemen Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma, the team has invested carefully in their preparations, arriving in Australia two weeks before Monday's first Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

That contrasts with their hasty leadup in the last Australian tour in 2007/08, when they were edged 2-1 after pushing the hosts right to the end.

With their golden generation of batsmen almost certainly to play their last series Down Under, India are fancied to upset a disjointed Australian side with a raw bowling unit and new selectors still searching for the team's best 11.